Your career is ruined: Mumbai Court to TISS students booked for attending GN Saibaba death anniversary event

A Mumbai court recently cautioned nine Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) students about the consequences of the criminal case lodged against them for attending an event commemorating former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba’s first death anniversary.

Additional Sessions Judge Manoj B Oza on Monday (January 19) said that their participation in the event and the case against them could harm their job prospects and could create lasting difficulties in obtaining government as well as private employment.

“You have a criminal record. Now your record is with the police; not just here but everywhere in the country. Your career is ruined,” the judge said.

The made these observations while hearing the anticipatory bail applications filed by the students.

The Court had earlier granted them interim protection from arrest. The same was extended on Monday.

The nine students are named as accused in an FIR registered by Trombay police on the basis of a complaint submitted by an associate dean of TISS.

The FIR cites provisions corresponding to unlawful assembly, promoting enmity between different groups and acting in a manner prejudicial to the nation, along with relevant clauses under the Maharashtra Police Act.

It was filed after an event held on the TISS campus in Deonar on October 12, 2025 to mark Saibaba’s first death anniversary. Saibaba, who was 90 percent disabled and wheelchair-bound, was acquitted by the Bombay High Court in March 2024 after the court held that the sanction to prosecute him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was invalid.

He passed away in October 2024, seven months after his release from prison.

It is alleged by the police that slogans were raised at the event in support of jailed activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam.

During the hearing, the Court questioned the students about their academic course and their family backgrounds, including whether their parents had been informed about the criminal case.

The judge observed that registration of a criminal case at such an early stage in their lives could significantly hinder their careers, noting that employers, including those in the private sector, routinely insist on disclosure of any pending criminal proceedings.

When told that the students were enrolled in a Master’s in Social Work programme, the Court remarked that academic qualifications on their own may not shield them from the adverse effects of such proceedings and added that job opportunities in general remain scarce in the current market.

The Court eventually adjourned the matter for further arguments on February 5 while continuing the interim protection from arrest granted to the students.

Advocates Vijay Hiremath and Swaraj Jadhav appeared for the accused.

Additional public prosecutor KY Salunke appeared for the State.